A Perfect Family
by Meme-Ann
Summary: Connie and Charlie have the perfect life and the perfect family. But when troubles arise with Connie's ex, Guy and some unexpected obsticles develop, their world may come crashing down.
1. 1

I don't own anything you've ever heard mentioned before. I am a poor nursing home worker, that lives in the hurricane center of Florida. Fic inspired by an RPG over on LJ. It's called EdenHall, there's lots of characters open, go join  
To Chelsea, because we know we're right.  
  
A tiny brunette pushed open the front door of her condo and tossed her keys on the hallway end-table, dropping her briefcase on the floor next to it. She pulled off her blazer as she walked down the corridor, veering left into the kitchen. A stack of mail sat on counter near the coffee pot and she rifled through them as she poured herself a steaming cup of the dark liquid.  
  
The women smiled to herself at the number of fan letters addressed to her husband stuck in the pile. Hockey groupies as she called them. Women that would wait outside the arena, or the hotel where he and his team was staying, in their official replica jersey's, looking for an autograph. It's hard when your husband is the leading scorer on a team like the Minnesota Wilde, but she knew he only had ease for her.  
  
Then phone in the dinning room rang and she set to pick it up, smiling when the called ID said the call was from Charlie's cell phone. She picked it up and held it to her ear, a face shattering grin playing at her lips. Just hearing his voice would make her day, it always did.  
  
"Hello, Conway residence." She tired to pretend not to know who it was on the other end, struggles to hide her excitement at the fact it was Charlie on the phone.  
  
A chuckle came from the other end of the phone and his familiar laugh filled her ears. "Hey gorgeous, how was work?"  
  
"It was okay, I think the newest Golden Gopher maybe from Eden Hall believe it or not." She laughed, sitting down on one of her dining chairs.  
  
"Oh really? That's great, score another one for Orion's coaching technique. So what are you up to?"  
  
"Nothing, just missing you. How's things going in Ottawa? Ready to take out the Senators?"  
  
"I miss you too, baby. You know Cons, you should really go out on the balcony."  
  
Connie Moreau-Conway arched an eyebrow and laughed softly. "Why?"  
  
"Just do it." Her husband replied.  
  
So Connie rose from her seat and set off toward her bedroom. The floor of their room was covered in flower petals, that lead out onto the balcony. There standing with open arms and his trademark mischievous grin was Charlie.  
  
"You're suppose to be in Canada!" She squealed launching herself into his arms.  
  
Charlie kissed the top of her head lightly, encircling her tiny waist tightly. "You didn't think I was gonna leave the country without my two favorite girls did you? Where's Madison?"  
  
"She is at day-care until 6." Connie gave him a wink and slipped her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze.  
  
Charlie blushed slightly and kissed her lips. "I like the way you think. Lead the way, Hun."  
  
At a day-care across town a little blonde girl played with blocks in the corner of the room. She was alone in the crowd of children. It had been Daddy day in her first grade class, and poor Madison hadn't had a Daddy to show off. Unlike most of the children in her class Madison Germaine had two fathers, her real Daddy, Guy Germaine of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and her step Daddy, Charlie Conway of the Minnesota Wilde. Even with a spare father, neither had showed. Both had big games coming up so Maddie hadn't even told then about the event in school.  
  
She didn't see Guy very much except for when the season was out and she spent sometime at his apartment in Florida, and deep inside she knew Charlie wasn't really her Daddy, so she would've felt bad asking him to come instead. Not only that but if they had both gone, there would've been trouble. Even at the age of seven Madison knew that things always got crazy when both Daddies were in the same place.  
  
Sometimes it was hard on the little girl and she wished she only had one Daddy. One Daddy and one house. But still the same amount of toys. What little girl doesn't want double the Barbies? But still she wanted a real family. One, whole, solid family. 


	2. 2

In a hotel room in Dallas a handsome blonde athlete sat alone in the room he shared with a fellow teammate, an opened suitcase beside him on the bed. Buried beneath his workout gear and underwear laid a simple 2x3 picture. He pulled it from the bottom and stared longingly at the dark haired beauty looking back at him from the photograph. His thick fingers ran over the glossy surface, tracing the outline of the lovely girls smiling lips. So young, so happy, so long ago.

Looking back him from beside her in the picture was a younger, less world worn version of himself. Youthful blue eyes sparkling with joy as he held a tiny, squirming pink bundle in his arms. His precious Madison. Eighteen and a father. Any other boy would have been scared out of his mind, but not him. It was what he'd been waiting for since the day he was born. To settle down with that girl and start a family, to have a life together. A perfect life and a perfect family.

"Hey Germaine, whatcha got there?" Roommate and fellow Minnesota native Ben Clymer asked, entering the room with a handful of teammates in tow.

"Nothing." Guy lied, shoving the photo back into his luggage.

Vincent Lecavalier just laughed and stuck his hand in the suitcase and pulled it out. "Wow she's cute."

"Lemme see." Brad Richards plucked it from Vinny's hand and nodded. "Yeah she is, who is she?"

Guy sighed and flopped backward onto his bed, glaring at the ceiling. "My ex wife." He muttered scowling.

Ex wife, _ex_, as in no longer. They'd been divorced for five years. She'd been married to his _ex _best friend for three of those five years. The pain was still there though, stinging him like a freshly opened wound. Every time he thought about her, he could see her going on with her life the way he wished he could. He could imagine, Charlie tucking _his _little girl into bed at night. See Charlie making love to _his _wife. Charlie Conway, was living the life he was suppose have. He stole it from him.

"Ex wife?" Clymer asked puzzled. "You never mentioned her before."

"I don't talk about her. I'm trying to forget her." He continued lay there, eyes transfixed to the ceiling as if it held the answers to the universe. But no answer came. There was no solution to life's problems in the aged plaster above him. So badly he wanted the subject dropped, to shake her image from his mind once more. He just wanted to forget it all, everything they were and everything he wished they still could be.

"If I had a girl like that," Brad began. "I'd have held on tight and never left."

Guy draw a breath and closed his eyes. "I didn't leave her, she left me. For my best friend in fact."

"Wow that's pretty harsh. Who was he?"

"Do you know Charlie Conway from The Wilde?"

Vinny nodded. "Sure I do, I met him at an All Star Game once. Nice guy, his daughter is the cutest little thing."

Guy flinched as if he'd been kicked in the stomach. That was _his_ daughter. _His _little girl. There was Germaine blood in her veins. It pained him physically to hear people refer to Charlie as Madison's father. He loved his little girl. And yet he stayed away, not because he didn't want to spend every spare minute he could with her, but because he couldn't bare the sight of Connie. Her chocolate eyes, her cherry lips, ever the curve of her neck, it all drove him mad.

"That's my daughter." He retorted swiftly, tightening his eyelids closed. "Maddie, is mine. Charlie took her from me, just like he took everything else. My wife, my dream of a perfect life, everything."

The room fell silent then, you could hear the wheels turning in the three other men's heads. They had initially come to ask Guy if he wanted to go get a beer with them, but it didn't seem like the best idea anymore. Drowning your problems in a drink, only makes them seem that much worse in the morning. Without a word they left him alone with his thought, closing the door behind them.

As the door closed Guy turned out the light. In the stillness and dark, he cried. He cried for his lost love and his heartbreak. Cried because he missed his little girl and be he knew he didn't have the strength to be the father she needed. Cried because his best friend destroyed him.

So long since their motto was 'Ducks fly together'. Now it was more like, 'Ducks will sleep with your wife, in your bed and say it never happened.' Stabbed in the back by the least likely of suspects, it caused the most pain. Still in his heart he knew, we wanted it all back. He needed it back. His wife with her sweet lips and soft hair and his daughter. He wanted his life back and he would get it, one way or another.


	3. 3

To the best of Charlie's knowledge Guy and Connie's relationship was over long before he came into the picture, in any case not as her lover. And as far as Connie was concerned, her marriage had been over before it even started. She was too young to get married at the time, not yet ready for such a commitment. And the truth in it all was, she wasn't even sure if she'd waited, that Guy would have been the man she chose as her first husband. If their parents hadn't pressured her so much, she may not have married him to start with, at least not while they were so young.  
  
One night there had been a huge fight in the Germaine house, that now no-one remembers what sparked it. But Guy had left that night and hadn't come back, he stayed gone for months. It was a cold, stormy night three months later when he'd fianlly return. Connie had been so lonely in the time he'd been gone and the night of the storm she'd just wanted some company in case the lights went out. She was afraid of the dark. Without thinking she'd called Charlie, he'd been her best friend for years. Like she knew he would, he came. He always came when she needed him.  
  
They'd sat and talked for hours before the exhaustion of raising a toddler on her own for the last three months caught up with her and she gave in to sleep. Charlie tossed around the idea of leaving her there on the couch for a while before deciding to carry her to her room. He carefully laid her on the bed and placed a tender kiss on her forehead before trying to back away with out waking her.  
  
"Don't go." Connie had murmured sleepily, grabbing at the hem of Charlie's shirt. "I don't want to be alone."  
  
Her friend nodded and slid into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and stroked her silky hair soothingly, as she drifted off to sleep. Soon sleep came to claim him too, and he closed his eyelids beside her.  
  
Guy had looked out of his the window of mother's apartment, where he'd been staying and caught of glimpse of the angry cloud that littered the sky. It would be dark soon, Connie hated the dark He could tell from the look of the those clouds, in that sky it was going to be a wild night. He never would have guessed, how wild it would be.  
  
He packed a bag and stopped at the local grocery to pick up some flowers on the way. Light purple Gerber daisies, Connie loved Gerber daisies. As he pulled up to the house he saw Charlie's SUV in the driveway and it made him happy to know someone was there to take care of his wife while he couldn't. That's what friends were for. But that night he'd be taking back the role of Connie's protector.  
  
The house was quiet, too quiet and dark. He'd expected to find Connie and Charlie sitting in the living room laughing and being goofy as he had so many times before. But not this time, this time the parlor was vacant, the lights were off and all there was in the room was a pressing emptiness. The joy that once made that house a home was missing.  
  
Then suddenly a breeze filled the room and wrapped it self around his waist. Some unknown force in the form of a gentle wind propelled him up the stairs to the master bedroom. Before Guy realized it, he was standing in the open doorway for the room, peering in as his wife lay curled up in the arms of his best friend.  
  
He froze in that moment, feeling as though the air had been sucked up of him like a vacuum. He lost all control of his body, it wouldn't move, his head was spinning and heart breaking all while a ball of anger formed in the pit of his stomach. He felt dizzy, and nauseous on the verge of throwing up. How could they do that to him.  
  
Then suddenly he could move again, though it still felt as though he had no control over his own muscle, as if they were working on their own accord. He flipped the lights on, waking the sleeping pair. Charlie momentarily blind by the brightness, allowing what Guy would do next to be so much easier. He hauled him off the bed, pinning him to wall, so incensed he was shaking with rage. Connie will never forget the hurtful names he called or harsh words he said to her, as his fist pounded repeatedly into the stomach of the who had been his best man at their wedding.  
  
His frantic wife pleaded with him to stop, begged him to understand. With tears pouring down her face she screamed to him it had been completely innocent. Guy couldn't hear her, his fury made him deaf to her pleas. He irrational and inhuman.  
  
Then as swiftly as the attack had began it was over. Trembling Guy propped Charlie's bruised body and backed out the door. Connie could hear the squeal of his tires as he fled the property. That was the last time, Guy Germaine set foot in that house.  
  
Connie knelt beside Charlie and grimaced at the black and blue already starting to form on his abdomen, her husbands words of hate still ringing in her ears. And she sobbed. How could the man she married be so savage, so unfeeling? There was no way she could ever take him back now. She couldn't have that around her daughter, that malice and that violence. Guy would be lucky if he ever even saw Madison again.  
  
Charlie opened his eyes and looked over at that clock radio beside his bed., the blurred crimson letters read 2 AM and he sighed. He rolled over and just looked at his wife. Her small frame motionless other then the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Charlie leaned over and kissed her lips softly, running his thumb over the smooth skin of her cheek.  
  
Connie stirred slightly and smiled without opening her eyes. "What are you doing awake?"  
  
"Couldn't sleep, had to kiss you." Her husband brushed a stray piece of dark hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.  
  
"What time is it?" She asked rolling over to face him and opening her eyes to stare into his lovingly.  
  
"It's 2, five years today."  
  
Connie crinkled her foreheads and looked at him curiously. "Five years since what?"  
  
Charlie knew that his wife had tried to push the events of that night out of her mind. She didn't want to think about how that happened, all that mattered to her is that they happened. They were in love and happy, how it came to be mattered little.  
  
"Five years since Guy came home." He replied, leaving a small trail of kisses along her jaw line.  
  
Connie nodded, biting her lip. It still hurt to think about the names he'd called her that night. In the back of her mind since then she'd kept them, always wondering if there was truth behind them. So many times she'd replayed that night in her head or in her dreams. She'd wake up reaching for Charlie and she'd panic if he wasn't next to her.  
  
She scooted closer and wrapped her arms around his midsection. "Go back to sleep honey." She whispered knowing she wouldn't be able to. 


	4. 4

Connie sat in the aisle seat of the plain, watching contently as her daughter leaned across Charlie's lap to see out the window. Absent mindedly she twisted the elegant diamond and platinum band that adorned her left ring finger. The perfect marriage to the perfect man. She continued to gaze at her loving husband, Charlie turned his head to her and smiled. She felt her whole body blush when he mouthed the words 'I love you' to her. Years together and she still felt giddy at them.  
  
As she watched Maddie and her Daddy, her mind began to wander back to the day her purposed to her. It had been at night, well past eleven and Maddie had long since been asleep. Connie sat in her office, all the light in the room were off except for a small lamp on the desk. She stared at the fresh sheet of snow white paper, blankly, wracking her brain for a tagline.  
  
She needed to have an article written and submitted to the editor of the local paper by six the next morning if she ever wanted to be considered for the opening in sport writing staff, that she'd applied for. The only problem was, she had nothing to write about. Her inspiration was running dry.  
  
Charlie had just finished his nightly ritual of making sure all the door and windows in the house were closed and locked, before heading to bed. He passed the office and looked in at his girlfriend, her long dark hair pulled up in a messy bun, her penetrating eyes hiding behind her reading glasses and her flawless face paled by the light of the moon. Even so, she'd never looked more beautiful to him.  
  
His breath caught in his throat, he could hardly breathe as he looked at her, slumped over the desk, resting her forehead on the palm of her hand. He entered the room without a sound, sneaking up behind her. Resting a gentle hand on her shoulder, brushing Connie's graceful neck with his thumb.  
  
Connie jumped, surprised by Charlie's touch, then relaxed leaning back in the chair so her head was resting against his stomach. "You scared me" She laughed, as Charlie leaned down and kissed the small crevasse between her shoulder and neck. His lips tickled the delicate flesh of her body.  
  
"Did I?" Charlie breathed, sucking in the sweet scent of her freshly washed hair.  
  
The petite writer in front of him nodded, scooping her hair up and moving her head so he could get better access to her neck.  
  
Charlie took the opportunity willingly, his mouth caressing her skin. "Whatcha writing?"  
  
"Article for the paper. If I don't get it finished, I'll never get that job tomorrow/ I just don't have headline, there's nothing to write about." She sighed stressfully.  
  
Her boyfriend bit his lip, wondering if this was that was the appropriate time to ask. But deep inside he knew he couldn't wait another minute. He turned her chair to face him, studying her sweet face. "Can I talk to you for a minute babe?"  
  
Connie crinkled her forehead and gave a confused nod. "Sure, Hun. What's wrong?" She asked taking off her reading glasses and rubbing her tired eyes.  
  
Charlie's mouth ran dry as Connie peered up at him with her laser like stare. So many times he'd run through in his head, what he'd say to her when the time was right. But right then, at moment, his brain failed him.  
"Nothing, nothing's wrong. Everything's fine, babe."  
  
"Okay." Connie said slowly. "Then what do you need to talk about? Whatever it is you don't have to be afraid to tell me, I'll love you no matter what."  
  
This gave Charlie the confidence he needed to force the words from his lips. He dropped to his knees in front of her. The handsome hockey player took the hand of his lover, running his thumb over her knuckles. "I've wanted to ask you this, for a long time Cons and I don't think I can put it off for another second. Connie Moreau, I love you, and I want you to marry me.-"  
  
"Yes." She'd replied before he'd finished.  
  
So certain that she'd say no, Charlie plowed on with his speech, not hearing what she'd said. "Now I know, it's only been a little over a year since you and Guy's divorce was finalized. And you might not be ready yet and that's okay. I'm willing to wait. I'll wait twenty years if I have to, if it means you'll be my wife in the end."  
  
"Charlie, Charlie,. Sshhhh, I said yes." Connie put a hand on either side of his face. "I'll marry you. Yes."  
  
"Yes?" He queried, searching her face for certainty, find no doubt in her eyes.  
  
"Yes." Connie repeated.  
  
In a flash Charlie was out of the room and back. Taking her hand once more, with shaking fingers and a trembling body he slipped the engagement ring past her knuckles. He captured her tender lips, and kissed her in away she'd never been kissed before. And in that instant all was right with the world.  
  
NHL's hottest new star to wed childhood friend was the title of her article when she submitted it the next morning. She got the job, with little competition. None of the other applicants had had their own exclusives after all. 


	5. 5

Guy twisted the top off his beer bottle and tossed it on the table the window, listening to it scrape along the smooth surface of the tabletop before falling off on the other side. He wasn't really much of a drinker, and truth be told he'd rather drink anything other then beer, he hated the taste and the smell made him gag. That night it didn't matter at all, he just wanted to drown his sorrow in the bitter flavor of barley and hops. It was in fact all he and Ben had left in the mini fridge anyway.  
  
In the room next to his a newlywed couple celebrated their vows in the most intimated of ways and Guy tried his hardest to block their howls of joy and murmurs of pleasure from his mind. He raised the long necked bottle to his lips, gulping down half its contents before stopping to breathe. Guy closed his eyes, laying back on his pillow, trying to hum loud enough to stifle the noise from the other side of the wall.  
  
Soon he'd lost control of his thoughts as sleep took over his body and his mind began to drift back. Back to the time when life was simple and happiness seemed like an attainable dream. It was just sitting there, waiting for him to extend his hand and grasp it with his strong fingers and hold tightly. He found true happiness one night, pure bliss, untainted by anything in the outside world. The most joyful he'd ever been, was the day he made love to the girl, that would grow into the women, he'd marry.  
  
Connie's dad had this rule, that the young couple weren't allowed to spend the evening alone together until she sixteen. He'd always made sure one of their other friend's, members of what their parents called The Diaper Squad, were around. That meant, Peter, Jesse or Charlie, had to tag along on their dates. One night she'd gotten so tired of being treated like a baby, that she told her dad she was going skating with some friends, she even got Charlie to back her up on it, instead she spent the night unattended with Guy.  
  
The pair made themselves comfortable on the ground in the small backyard, behind guys apartment, staring up at the stars. The dry blades of lawn irritated her short clad legs and she squirmed, brushing against him ever so gently. In that little touch, everything changed, their lives, their relationship, everything was different. That touch sparked a fire in both of them, that consumed their innocence before the night was over.  
  
Connie's skin had never felt smoother, her lips softer, her hands more like velvet. Kisses sweet as honey soon lured them both further then they'd ever go at such a young age. Hands pawing, fingers scratching. Before they knew how far they were going a shock of pain ripped through Connie's tiny body and it was too late. They couldn't go back. There was no tomorrow, or yesterday, right then all there was, was that moment and their love.  
  
Guy could feel his heart beat faster with every kiss, every tender stroke. Pounding like a drum, the rhythm growing louder in his ears. Then suddenly he was drawn back from his memories from the buzz of an alarm clock, the banging in his head no longer a distant dream, but a side effected of his drinking the night before. His eyes flashed open and winced at the day light sun. Morning, why did it have to be morning, when in the slumber of night all had been perfect? 


	6. 6

Charlie threaded his fingers through his wife's slender, tapered ones as they exited the plane. Madison bobbed a few feet in front of them, nearly bent in half by the weight of her carry on which she'd over filled, but refused to let anyone else carry for her. She was a stubborn little girl and it made Charlie laugh to see how much like her mother she was. Connie wasn't the type to admit when she needed help either, she was determined to be strong and independent.  
  
"You know, she's just like you." He ran his thumb along the side her of her hand with a smile.  
  
Connie just shook her head. "I don't think so, I see more of her father in her everyday."  
  
Her husband flinched slightly at the comment, he knew Guy was Maddie's real father, but he just didn't like to think about it. Every time it was mentioned it was a like smack to his face, that stung worse then any he'd ever sustained in hockey. If life had been perfect, if things had gone right, he would've been the one she married all those years ago, his blood would flowing through the veins of Connie's daughter.  
  
"I don't, Guy was quiet when we were her age and shy. She's definitely more like you."  
  
"I wasn't talking about Guy, I meant you." She kissed his cheek and smiled lovingly up at him.  
  
Charlie smiled and squeezed her hand, the wheels of thought moving slowly in the back of his mind. There was something he'd been meaning to ask her, something he'd hoped taking the trip would make easier. His question, would be almost life changing.  
  
Connie sighed and pointed "Do you see that?" She gestured with her hand to where Madison stood riding the luggage carrousel. "And you think she's more like me?"  
  
As she ran off to chase the little girl through the airport, he watched her. Her silky brown hair bouncing, her smile lighting up the airport. He remembered the day he first noticed how bright her eyes were, the way her body was toned and curved in just the right places, and how that patch of freckles on the back of her neck seemed to form a heart. They day he realized she was more to him then a childhood friend, his blood brother's girlfriend.  
  
Goldberg's family had had their yearly fourth of July bash at the Deli and the team stuffed themselves with sandwiches. As they laid on the grass in the park, resting their stomachs and staring up at the sky, Connie and Guy stood off to the side, arguing over one thing or another. They always quarreled over stupid things, it wasn't uncommon. It was almost a ritual that they have at least one fight during summer vacation where they break up for a while.  
  
As Guy stormed off toward the edge of the park, Connie started back in the direction of the group to watch the firework display. She spotted Charlie, lying a blanket, looking up to the clouds and headed to where he was. She stopped at his feet and chewed her bottom lip softly.  
  
"Can I sit with you, Charlie?" Her voice was soft and sad, her dark eyes misty with unshed tires.  
  
Before her friend could answer, the fireworks began to ignite in the air, illuminating the sky like huge flowers. Blossoms of color exploding behind her head as Charlie looked up at her. He'd heard of people seeing fire works when they see someone beautiful, but that had always sounded ridiculous to him. Right then though, he thought for sure he was falling love. The warm summer air had made her cheeks slightly pink from the heat and her full lips where bright red from a snow cone she'd eaten shortly before.  
  
She kicked his foot lightly to gain his attention, not realizing she'd had it completely since she walked over. "Charlie…?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, Cons, sure sit." He rambled scooting over on the blanket to make room.  
  
Connie forced a smile and laid down beside him, her arm brushing his gently as she made herself comfortable. A shiver ran the length of Charlie's spine as he sat there next to her, watching her chest rise and fall as she gazed up at the sky.  
  
It seemed like only an instant and she went from the girl he use to play Ninja Turtles with in his back yard, to gorgeous girl that embodied everything he'd ever hoped to find in a girl. His fingers grazed her hip, has he rolled onto he shifted slightly and he wondered if she too had felt the spark. If she had, would she ever admit it?  
  
Later that night, after the fire works had ceased, and the Ducks began to get ready to leave the park, Guy resurfaced. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand and Charlie watched silently as Connie walked to her boyfriend with an enormous smile on her face. She took the roses, kissed Guy passionately and slipped her hand into his. As they walked away together, Charlie felt his heart in his throat. There was his answer. She's always be his best friend's girl, there was no denying it.  
  
And so he kept it secret. Bottled up his feelings in the very bottom of his heart. And on the day he stood up for Guy at his wedding, he wanted so badly to object, but he couldn't. He couldn't admit his feelings, nor could he ruin the pure love that his two friends shared. He'd forever be the best friend.  
  
"What are you thinking, Sweetie?" He was brought back from his thoughts by Connie's tender voice. She stood in front of him with Madison latched to his leg.  
  
Charlie smiled and asked the question he'd been holding in for weeks. "What do you think about moving to Canada?" 


	7. 7

Pain surged through Guy's shoulder while he lay there, flat on ice back, in the corner of the ice. He'd tried to take the puck off Bill Guerin only to miscalculate his movements and slam awkwardly into the boards. It was over, he could see it. His entire hockey career flushed down the toilet because of a stupid mistake. As he rested there in agony, he remembered another time, when he was certain he'd never play again due to another stupid mistake.

"I'm late." Connie said as soon as he picked up the phone. No 'Hi, Hun.' or even a 'Baby we need to talk.'

It came on so fast Guy didn't even have a chance to really process what she'd said. "Late? Late for what, Sweetie? Practice isn't for an hour or so."

Connie gulped and drew a shaky breath. "Guy, I think I'm pregnant."

Her boyfriend stood there stunned with the phone in his hand. His heart pounded in his ears. She couldn't had just said what he though she said. It wasn't possible, they were always so careful.

"Um, are you sure?"

"No, I need to take a test. Will you come with me, to get one?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you in the parking lot."

An hour later they were sitting on her bed, staring impatiently into the bathroom, waiting for the alarm on Guys watch to go off. When it finally it beeped and Connie went to grab it. When she appeared in the doorway, she was biting hard on her bottom lip, the test strip in her shaking hand.

"It's positive." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm pregnant."

The color drained from Guy's face, his girlfriend's words swirling around in his head. A baby, already? He was still a kid himself, how would he ever raise one? His dreams seemed to vanish right in front of his eyes. College was out, and with it his hopes of a pro hockey career. Gone, all gone, his dreams.

Guy sighed heavily "Are you sure it's mine?"

"I've never been with anyone else." Connie spat, shocked he'd had the nerve to even ask such a question.

"Well it's just because, we always use protection, it doesn't make any sense."

"Condoms aren't always 100 percent, you know that." Tears sprung to her eyes. "Oh God, what are we going to do?"

Guy wrapped his arms around her quivering shoulders and held her tightly. Filling her ears with soothing words, that eased her tears. Though deep inside, he himself had never been more scared in his life.

"You alright, Germaine?" Guy looked up and was face to face with the team trainer.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so, it just hurts, but I can skate." He picked himself up off the ice, to a cheer from the fans. He made his way to the locker room to be checked out, thinking the entire way. The pain in his arm was blinding, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. 


	8. 8

Connie stopped cold in the middle of the terminal. Her pause so abrupt the man behind hadn't had time to swerve around her, and crashed right into her back. So caught up in what she'd just been asked she hardly noticed. What kind of question was that, anyway?

"Run that by me again?" She asked her husband, lifting her daughter's luggage onto the cart she was pushing.

Charlie let out a long breath and made a worried face. "Honey, would you be willing to move to Canada, for me?"

"For you…?" His wife gave him a puzzled look, resting her hand on his shoulder. "What are you talking about, Charlie?"

Standing there listening, as her husband went into a long draw out ramble, reminded her of a similar conversation, about four years before.

They were laying on the bed in Charlie's bachelor pad, she was curled up against him as some random sitcom, that neither were really paying attention to played on the television. Charlie was stroking her cheek with his thumb, as she occasionally let out content sighs. They'd only been a couple officially for a few months and were still in the new stages of the relationship. The swell of love Connie felt whenever she looked into the eyes of you former best friend was dizzying at times.

"Baby…?" Charlie kissed the top of her head gently, to see if she was awake.

"Hmm?" The petite beauty shifted slightly in his arms to look at him.

"Are you awake?"

"I'm talking to you aren't, I?" She laughed, patting his knee.

"Oh, right."

"What is it, darling?"

"I have to ask you something.."

"Ooookay, so ask me." Connie looked at him, half amused and half concerned.

Charlie let out a long breath, trying to form the question perfectly in his head before asking. He knew what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how to phrase it without sounding like he was rushing their relationship. "Cons, you know how much I love you, right?"

She nodded her reply and knit her eyebrows.

"How good it makes me feel to fall asleep every night with my arms around you. And I don't think there's any better way to wake up, then next to you."

Connie chuckled and ran her fingers up his forearm gently. "Baby, you're rambling."

"Oh, right, yeah. What I mean is," He took her hand and run his thumb over her knuckles. "will you move in… here… with me?"

Connie went silent and looked at him in the moment. Her dark eyes probed into his smoky blue ones. If he had been anyone else she wouldn't have even had to think about it. She'd have instantly said no, she wasn't ready. But this was Charlie, her closest friend, her confidant, her lover. He knew her inside and out, in everyway.

"If… if you don't want to, I understand." Her boyfriend kissed her temple, reassuringly.

She chewed her bottom lip, thinking hard. Connie watched as Charlie's face fell and she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Just seeing him sad hurt her physically, and she knew right then and there just how much she loved him. She couldn't bare to spend a moment longer then absolutely necessary without him.

"Okay, let's do it."

"Really?" Charlie's eyes widened, in awe.

Connie nodded. "Uhuh. When?" She queried.

"As soon as possible." Her responded, kissing her exaggeratedly.

Connie just giggled. "Sound's good to me."

"Cons, are you listening to me? Connie? Constance?" Charlie's voice snapped her back to reality.

A smile teased at the corner of her lips. "Did you just call me, Constance?"

Her husband winced. "Sure that you heard."

"I heard it all, Sweetie. If you want Toronto, and you want to be a Maple Leaf, then yes, I'll move for you."

"I have the best wife in the world" Charlie exclaimed and kissed her cheek before racing off to catch Madison, who was trying to pat a blind lady's seeing eye dog.

As he walked away, Connie whispered. "How am I gonna tell, Guy?" 


	9. 9

The season was over him, his shoulder would require surgery and months of physical therapy. By the time Guy Germaine got to pull on a jersey again, the fans would've all but forgotten who he was. He was broken and alone… again.

****

"I work all day and all I ask is when I come home there's food on the table, is that too hard?" Raised voices woke the sleeping baby, as Guy poked frustrated at the TV dinner, that his young wife had set in front of him.

Connie frowned, and tossed a fork into the dishwasher. "Guy, you woke up, Madison." The petite brunette was too tired from a long day of classes, raising a baby and trying to run a house hold to argue. "It took me hours to get her to sleep."

"I'll go take care of her, just, make me something else to eat will you.? This is still frozen, in the middle."

"Make it yourself. I'm not you're maid, I'm your wife. I cook, I clean, I raise your baby and all you have to say to me, is 'It's still frozen'? How dare you, how dare you come home and say something like that to me?"

Anger festered deep in, Guy's stomach. "My wife? My wife, who hasn't been to one of my games in weeks, my wife that can't cook me a real dinner, my wife who hasn't made love with me in over a month! That's a wife? I don't know what you are Connie, but you're not a wife!"

Tears began to twinkle in Connie's dark eyes as she leaned there against the sink shelf. Her lower lip quivered and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't talk to me like that."

A flash of guilt swept over, the young man as noticed for the first time that night, the sorrow and exhaustion that had claimed his once strong and proud bride. He rose for the table and walked closer, slipping an arm around her waist.

Suddenly all the sadness in Connie's body was replaced with fury. Fire began to burn behind her eyes as her pouty lips curled into a sneer. She shoved him harshly away. "Don't touch me!" She shrieked. "Don't touch me, just get out! Get out!"

"Wha-…?" Guy looked at her stunned. "Baby, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do." Connie nodded feverishly "Just get out, leave, I don't want you here!"

And within that hour, he was gone. Back to his mothers, feeling empty. Without the women he loved, and the daughter he treasured. He was alone and broken

The phone rang in his apartment and he put down the Bud in his hand to answer it. The caller ID read Tamara Hall, and in spite of the depression he was feeling, he smiled. "Hey, Jes, how's it going?"

"It's going good Germaine, how's the world treating you?" Jesse greeted cheerfully.

"Been better."

"Yeah, I can imagine. If, Tammy decided to take the kids to Canada, I'd be miserable too."

"What are you talking about, Jesse. I'm depressed over my shoulder. Who's going to Canada?"

Jesse bit his bottom lip. "You don't know?"

"Obviously not, Jes, what's going on?"

:"Connie, called, Tammy, last night, Charlie's been traded to the Leafs, they're moving to Toronto. I'm sorry buddy."

Guys blood ran cold in his veins. How could she do that to him, how could Charlie? It wasn't bad enough he'd already taken his wife from him, but now he was stealing his daughter. Were they ever friends?

"Yeah, thanks, Hall. I need to go, thanks for telling me. I'll talk to you later." As Guy hung the phone back up again, one lone tear trickled down his cheek. He'd lost it all, again.


	10. 10

Connie laid on the cold exam room table, the paper under crinkling as she shifted uncomfortably. Even at her age, after already having a child, going to the Gynecologist still maid her uneasy. Something about having a strange man, touch her in places that were reserved for Charlie, gave her the creeps.

An older man, in a white jacket entered the room, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves, speaking to her in French, before beginning the exam. She clenched her eyes tightly, envisioning someone else's hands. He was gruff, probing, just as tears began to sting, the young women's eyes, the rough fingers were withdrawn, the gloves tossed, and the doctor scribbled illegibly on his pad.

"You are pregnant, yes?" He asked, filling in her chart.

Connie shook her head, her long dark hair, scratching against the paper. "No."

The doctor nodded vehemently, "Yes. You are. You will be having a baby"

"No, I'm not, I'm not even late. I just came in because I've been feeling a bit tired, this week. But we just moved, from the States, it's understandable, really, there was no reason to come." She swung her short legs over the side of the table and reached for her clothes.

"Mrs. Conway, you are with child. I would judge, you are around three weeks into your first trimester. According to the chart from your American Doctor, you have a five week cycle, so it is perfect possible for you to have not missed a period yet."

As the dark haired beauty sat on the table, letting the words sink in, she lost track of place and time, and allowed her mind to drift back.

__

"What do say, we give Maddie a little brother or sister?" She nuzzled Charlie's neck as he sat on the couch, watching a Ranger's game.

Her husband turned to her with a smile, and kissed her gently. "I dunno, Cons, can we talk about this later?"

She frowned and ran her fingers up his arm, teasingly. "Why not now."

With a sigh, Charlie turned off the TV and turned to face her. He rested a hand on her cheek and stared into her eyes. "Honey, I just got offered the Captains position, on the Wilde. I don't think this is the best time in my career to have another baby. Besides that, we're still young, we have plenty of time."

"Oh, but Charlie, we have the money, and I can work from home if I have too, we can do it."

"Connie, I don't want to have a kid right now. Case closed."

He'd picked the remote back up, turned the TV back on and that was the end of it. Not another word was spoken, it had been less then sex months ago. He was think she'd done it on purpose, despite what he wanted. He'd be angry, they'd fight. And she'd lose him, they way she'd lost Guy.

Gently her hand went to her abdomen, her soft scarcely above a whisper. "I can't be pregnant."

The Doctor raised his head from his paper work and raised an eyebrow. "Am I to take this is an unwanted pregnancy?"

Connie couldn't reply as tears began to pour from her chocolate eyes, as she struggled back into her clothes and raced from his office.


	11. 11

Charlie entered the apartment, grinningfrom ear to ear. Madison was perched on his shoulders and both were sopping wet, after returning from the condo pool. He lifted the little girl off him and set her down on the floor still so brimming with excitment, she stood there, dripping, with a bright smile on her sweet face.

"Maddie, mommy put some dry clothes on your bed, baby. Can you go put them on, for me?" Connie forced a smile, as her little bounced and nodded.

"Okay, but I'll be right back." She giggled running into her room. "And then I'll tell you all about Daddy and the shark."

Charlie chuckled drying his hair, with the large, Roadrunner, beach towel he'd unwrapped from around his waist. "She gets cuter everyday, I swear. We're the luckiest people I know."

Connie frowned, and chewed on her bottom lip. Her dark eyes were cast downward, sadly. She studied her shoes, she had pretty shoes. She liked her shoes. "Charlie we need to talk."

"Right now, or can I change first?"

"No, now, before Madison comes back. It's important."

Her husband frowned and wrinkled his brow. Still slightly drippy he wondered over and joined her on the couch, taking her shaking hand in his cold, wet one. "Baby, what's the matter? You can tell me anything, Cons."

His wife bit her lip hard, the salty, metallic taste of her own blood, bitter as it trickled down onto her tongue. "I'm pregnant." She conceded, her voice scared and small. Barley above a whisper, but to Charlie's ears, it seemed as if she was screaming.

****

"Connie, what's going on? What did I need to get over here ASAPfor?" Charlie knelt beside his best friend as she shook with tears.

"Charlie, I'm pregnant. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want a baby! I wanna finish school, I wanna go to college." Connie sobbed.

The boy's body went cold as he pulled her into his arms. Pregnant? How could she be pregnant? In his mind she'd always been his The only girl he'd ever loved and wanted to be with and she was pregnant. Bound to Guy for the rest of their lives. He would never have her.

He held her tightly, rocking her gently. Tried to sooth her with comforting words and tender stroking of her hair. He wanted to kiss her tears away. But he knew he couldn't. She wasn't his, and there was no chance she ever would be. Still he kept her close, rubbing her back. Never letting her feel for one second, unprotected or unloved

"What am I going to do?" She whimpered against his shoulder. "I can't have this baby. I'll lose everything."

Charlie shook his head. "I dunno, Cons. Have you told, Guy?"

Connie nodded weakly. "I think, I think he wants to keep it. My whole future is over, everything will be over."

It killed him to see her that way. This wasn't the strong, proud girl he knew. This quivering mass of tears, couldn't be the same person. His Connie wouldn't let anything get in the way of what she set her mind to. She laughed in the face of diversity. She just wanted to prove that when they said she couldn't do it, not only that she could, but she'd go above and beyond. That was the girl he knew, and that was the girl that he loved.

"You're what?" He demanded, his tone harsher then he intended.

Connie flinched and instinctively she drew her hand protectively to her stomach. "I'm… going to have a baby, Charlie. We're going to have a baby."

"How did this happen?"

"I'm pretty sure you know how this works, Charlie."

"It's mine?"

"Excuse me?" His wife's eyes widened with anger. "You did not just ask what I think you just asked."

"Well I dunno Cons, I'm on the road a lot, we hardly see each other, let alone sleep together on a frequent basis.." Charlie to rationalize his way out of trouble.

She flinched as if she'd be struck in the face."Where do you get the right to talk to me that way? How dare you?"

"I didn't mean it, Cons, I'm sorry."

"Yes you did. I know you better then that." Connie clentched her eyes tightly, holding back the tears that threatened to spill for her eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat. He should've just hit her, that would've hurt less. She loved her husband so much, she never even thought about having and affair. "I know you never say anything you don't mean, Charlie."

"Connie, you know I don't want about baby. Are you just trying to punish me for making you move?"

That was the last straw. The wrong thing to say, to a girlthat was hanging on by a very thin thread. Charlie regretted the words as soon as he spoke them, but it was too late. He couldn't take it back, she wouldn't give him the chance.

"Get out! Just get out of here." Not surewhether to burst into tears, orscream at the top of her lungs, the frustrated young woman didboth. "I don't even wanna look at you right now! Charlie, get out!"

"Connie, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He touched her shoulder gently, only to have her jerk sharply away from him.

"Don't touch me, just leave!"

As her shrieks gave way to tears, Charlie knew there'd be no reasoning with her tonight. With sad eyes he lifted himself from the couch and crossed to the room to the door. "I'll go, Cons. But I'll be back."

"Don't bother," She replied as he closed the door behind him. "I hate you, Charlie Conway!" then she punctuated that statement, by heaving the vase that once sat on the coffee table at the now closed door. It shattered on impact, so did Charlie's heart.


	12. 12

Guy picked up the phone and tapped in the numbers without even looking. It was like his fingers remembered the exact combination. She'd had the same phone number for five years, he could dial it with his eyes closed. There wasn't any small thing about her, he'd forgotten.

The phone rang twice. She'd let it ring three times, then answer it, she always did. Ignoring the first ring to not look like she'd been waiting by the phone and letting the second go, in case the person on the other end wanted to hang up. Sure enough, on the third chime, she picked up.

"Heh-?" She coughed to clear her throat. "Hello, Conway residence."

"Connie?" Guy knew he hadn't spoken to her in a while, but her voice couldn't had changed that much.

"Guy?"

"Yeah, it's me." He replied laying back on his sofa. "Are you okay, you don't sound like yourself?"

She sniffled slightly on the other end and swallowed. "I'm okay. Why are you calling?"

"That's not important right now, Cons are you crying?"

"Of course not, don't be silly. Why would I be crying? Now, what do you want?"

Guy lick his lips nervously, his mouth suddenly dry. What did he want? Why had he called her? He knew there was a reason when he picked up the phone. Who would've thought hearing her voice after so long would still do that to him?

The man on the line was just about to ask one last time, if his ex was sure she was alright, when he got his answer from an angel. A sweet voice could be heard in the background asking. "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you still mad at, Daddy? If he said he sorry, would you be happy again?"

Guy's little girl. Her voice so sweet and innocent, not meaning to hurt anyone, it gutted him. She called Charlie, Daddy. The bruised blonde, clenched his eyes tightly closed and swallowed, trying to ignore the words that brought such pain.

"Cons, did, he hurt you?"

**__**

She banged on the flimsy, aluminum screen door, the sound waking everyone in the house. Guy open the heavier, wooden door, on the inside of the house to see, her standing there, shivering and wet. His heart automatically wrenched. She looked so small, smaller then usual. And sad, which is something he'd rarely ever seen her. Connie didn't let herself get down, she thought it was a sign of weakness. And weak was something she wasn't.

**__**

Guy stood there, in the doorway, looking at her quizzically. It seemed like forever before she opened the screen door and collapsed into his arms. He held her wet body tightly, rubbing her back, wondering what on earth had bought this on. He stepped back into the house, leading her into the family room, before settling on the couch and pulling her into his lap.

"What happened, Cons?" Guy stroked her hair. "Are you okay?"

The young girl gulped, burying her head in his shoulder, unable to get the words out. She continued to tremble with cold, breath jagged.

"Connie, Baby, what is it?"

"I was walking back from the rink, and it started raining. One of Taylor's friends was driving by. He pulled over and offered me a ride, so I got in. Dylan drove a little ways, before he started…" Her voice trailed off and she pulled herself tighter to her boyfriend.

"Cons, did, he hurt you?"

Connie shook her head, her voice muffled but Guy's shoulder. "He was touching me, he said, gas or ass to get a ride, and since I didn't have any money, I had to give him something else. I laughed, I thought he was kidding, until he went for the snap on my jeans. I got out of the car, and I started running without thinking. Somehow I just wound up here."

"You're safe, Baby. It's alright, I'll never let anyone hurt you. I love you. And you're safe." Guy kept repeating the last the phrase to her soothingly, rocking her gently. It was his promise.

Years later, hearing the sadness in her voice, still broke him. The women he loved for so many years, who he continued to love to this day, was hurting. Nothing tugged at his heart more, or made him feel more useless.

After having the question phrased that way, Connie had no choice but to answer. The more she spoke, the more choked up she became. Her life was falling apart, just the day before she had the perfect family.

Guy felt horrible, he'd called to scold her about taking away his daughter, he hadn't known, what she was going through. In a strange place, pregnant and alone. He couldn't feel lower, if he tried.

He calmed her as best he could, knowing all the right things to say and how to say them. In all their years together he'd learned how to play her emotions, and also, how to change them. And the time apart hadn't changed that. When you love someone that deeply, for that long, you always share a bond.

After an hour on the phone, it was decided Guy would fly up and stay with the for a few days. To both spend time with his little girl, and keep Connie company until she felt comfortable in her new home. She'd always feared being alone, and being alone in a strange country wasn't going to be any easier. But Guy would help her, he'd always be there, when she needed him, no matter how messy their break up had been, he had always, and would always love her.


	13. 13

Charlie didn't know exactly where he was headed when he left the condo that night. All he knew was if he'd stayed, he would've said something unforgivable, something he couldn't take back. That was, if he hadn't already.

Another baby. He hadn't wanted another child, and he'd been very explicit about it. Still, was it really that bad? His own son or daughter, a precious baby, with Conway blood, flowing through their veins.

His wife, his beautifu,l Connie had given him the chance for that. To bring a life into this world together, something a lot of people only dream of. And how had he repaid her? He'd treated her like trash. Showed the woman he was suppose to love more then his own life, less respect then a he would a bum on the street.

Charlie's dark SUV, made it's way down the Canadian streets with no purpose, direction, it's driver lost in his own thoughts. Winding around roads and corners, in the middle of nowhere. Then suddenly it stopped with a jolt, out of gas in an unknown place.

It was too late and too dark to set out in the hopes of finding help. And since he didn't know where he was anyway, that didn't help matters. If he knew Connie at all, he knew she wouldn't answer if she saw his name on the caller ID, so calling her would be useless. He was stuck.

" Did you check the water before we left the house, Baby?" Connie asked as their car came to an abrupt stop.

Her husband shook his head. "No, I thought you had."

"I didn't." Connie replied with a smile. "I brought Maddie to your mother's in my car."

Charlie looked at her and sighed before getting of the care and walking around to the front. He lifted the and a thick cloud of white smoke puffed up around him. Steam shot from the radiator and Connie couldn't help but giggle. Charlie however failed to find the humor and was downright annoyed.

"You did this on purpose, just so we'd get stuck didn't you?" The petite brunette askedas her husband slunk back into their vehicle.

A smirk crossed Charlie's lips as his head turned in her direction. "You caught me Beautiful, I've been planning this for weeks. I thought, 'Screw the outrageously expensive bed and breakfast. Why bother, when we could just spend our honeymoon in the car,on the side of the highway?"

"I always knew you were a romantic at heart. How much time, thought and effort did this require?"

"Months. You have no idea how much careful preparation goes into making your own car over heat." Charlie sighed. "The whole weekend is ruined. I wanted everything to be so perfect."

Connie just shook her head, and climbed over the seat into the back, gesturing for him to follow. She folded the back seats down, like a bed and settled across then. Covering herself with Charlie's sweat shirt she smiled and asked him "Baby, are we together?"

The new groom nodded his response.

"Are wesafe and healthy?"

Nod.

"Then it is, perfect. Everything is perfect when we're together."

Charlie gave her a disbelieving look, as he crawled into the back and laid down beside her. "I don't deserve you." He said, pulling her close for both warmth and comfort.

"I know." She retorted. "You deserve so much better, then me, but I'm glad you were willing to settle."

Charlie rest his head against the steering wheel, and closed his eyes tightly. How could he have been so foolish? The things he'd said. Those terrible things. He accused her of being unfaithful. Connie? What was he thinking? She loved him more then anyone else ever had.

He'd been down right mean to her. That wasn't him, that wasn't the person he wanted to be. Cold, harsh and unforgiving. The same things his mother often described his own father as. He wouldn't turn into that man.

The mere thought scared him to the point of all most crying. More then anything he hoped Connie would forgive him. The only problem would be getting her to listen. But he swore when the sun came up, he'd find a way to get him, and make her see how truly sorry he was, and that she was his world.


	14. 14

Madison played happing at the coffee table, molding her 'Play Dough' into all sorts of shapes and sizes. Her vivid imagination taking the faire haired bundle of excitement wherever she wanted to go. One minute the clay was a fine China bowl, containing the most delicious soup she'd ever tasted, the next it was crown and she, a princess in some far away land.

She was happily oblivious to the fact her parents marriage was falling apart. All she knew is before she fell asleep the night before, Daddy Charlie had left and Daddy Guy had tucked her into bed, that in and of itself made her giddy with a child's glee. She'd missed her real father, so the fact he was there distracted her from even asking were Charlie was.

As she played and laughed at the parlor table, slaying a huge fire eating dragon (that of course only she could see) with the remote control, there was a familiar knock at the door. Maddie pulled over her stool and peered thought the peephole as was Mommy and Daddy's rule for answering the door. She wasn't to open it unless she knew the person on the other side.

Connie lay perfectly still in her bed, only having fallen asleep no more than three hours before. She had been up to all night, talking to her ex-husband like they were old friends again. Drinking coffee and laughing in a way that hadn't in years. It had been like the past five years had never happened.

In the back of Connie's mind there had been a pang of guilt over the fact she hadn't bothered to really try to talk to her daughter's biological father, until she was in a crisis with her second husband. She'd missed their closeness and the fact he could read her almost as well as her precious Charlie. Guy even seen seemed to listen to her. If he didn't really understand what she was feeling he was doing a great job of pretending and fooled her completely.

And while she felt so great while they were talking, when it was time to go to bed, and Guy was in the guest room, leaving her alone with her thoughts, Connie's mind would settle down. She was up hours more, crying, cursing in her mind, and looking longingly at the empty side of the bed next to her. She wanted Charlie's arms around her, his strong hands stroking her hair. She wanted her husband, her baby and her marriage.

"Mommy, mommy-" Maddie bounded into her mother's room and promptly pounced on her. "guess what, guess what, guess what. Daddy's, here!" She babbled.

Connie frowned and closed her eye tighter shielding them from the harsh light that threatened to spill in from the bedroom window. "I know baby." She replied, her voice hoarse with sleep. "Mommy, saw him last night."

"Not that, Daddy." Madison giggled. "My other, Daddy."

The over-head bedroom light flickered on suddenly and the petite brunette's eyes popped open, her pupils shrinking down to the size of a pencil tip, from the brightness. She blinked trying to adjust to the blinding luminosity, her vision blurred slightly, on the face standing in the doorway.

Every muscled in Guy's body tightened as he emerged from the master-bathroom, a terry cloth towel slung loosely around his hips and beads of water trigging from his damp blonde lochs down over his firm chest. Connie could feel the color drain form her face and the warmth flee her body, she knew the situation did not look good at all. And the worst of it was, she had no defense against the torrent of angry words she knew would soon irrupt.

The blue of Charlie's darkened to almost black in anger as Guy walked further into the room. The two men only glared at each other for a moment and Connie found solace in the quiet. As long no-one spoke, nothing irreversible had been done, nothing beyond repair said. Silence in this instance was her alley. Unfortunately the tense wordlessness could only last so long.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie demanded, his fist tightly balled at his side.

"I'm here to look after Connie and Madison. It made me sick to think of them alone in a strange place like this." Guy snorted, so hot with fury the remaining water droplets boiling on his flesh and turning to steam.

"That was so very kind of you Germaine, but I'm here now so my wife and daughter will no longer require your help."

Without missing a beat, Guy just smirked and declared "Maybe not, **MY **daughter will always need me."

Charlie's fist went hard into the top for the dresser as Guy beamed proudly at having such an impact. Within seconds the two were toe to toe, chest buffed out like Apes competing for the same banana.

"No! Not again! Don't do this!" Connie shrieked as tears sprung to her eyes, in panic.

The three were so caught up in the situation, they didn't even notice as Maddie backed slowly out of the room, her eyes wide with fear. She didn't want her daddies to fight, or her mommy to cry. Maybe it was the fact she was so young, maybe she was too little to understand. As she slid to the carpet in the hallway outside the door, she listened to the malicious and bitter words that were screamed, as the two men fought over who had the right to claim she and Connie.

But to her there was no reason , in her mind why they couldn't all, the four of them be a family. That's all Madison wanted. It seemed though, that nobody but her thought it possible…

"This is my Daddy, Charlie Conway." Madison bubbled, standing in front of her class in a 'Minnesota Wilde' jersey. "He's the captain, and starting center of a team in the NHL."

It was parents day Maddie's daycare, and each child was taking their turn introducing their mother and father to the rest of the class. It was a fun activity and not a single student had been as proud to show off their parents as Madison was. Her father was a real life celebrity, it was so exciting. That was until, Timmy Dalton, butted his nose in.

"That's not your Daddy." He said, with his tiny hands on his hips. "Your name's Germaine, not Cooooonway."

"He is so my Daddy. I have two."

"You can't have two Daddies."

Madison frowned to her, there was nothing strange about it and she couldn't see why it was hard to Timmy to grasp. "Yes I can, cuz I do. Guy Germaine's my daddy, and Charlie Conway's my daddy."

"They're not both your daddy and if they are you're weird!" Timmy shot back. "Hey everybody, let's not play with Maddie. She's weird. She has two Daddies! You can't have two Daddies."

To Madison's dismay that daythe rest of the class agreed. She was shunned from the play group. Connie and Charlie brought her home early that day, their little girl a mass of blood hair and tears. They'd soothed her in the car on the ride home, telling her Timmy was wrong. Later calling Guy on the phone so he could confirm it. And she believed them, so why now, were the two most important men in her life, refusing to accept they were both her father?


	15. 15

It was several minutes before Connie said anything to either, Charlie or Guy. She couldn't find the words at first, standing beside the two men, her lips dry and hands shaking. She never been afraid of either of the pair before in her life but right then, the way they fixed each other in angry glare, muscles bulging and nostrils flaring like angry bulls, she was terrified.

Finally she swallowed and took a step between them. "Stop it, both of you. You're acting like a couple of Neanderthals. Cut it out." Connie demanded, her chocolaty eyes now devoid of tears. Her small jaw set sternly. "This is not what Maddie needs right now. She loves you both and you're both her fathers."

"No Cons, I was in the room during conception and I'm pretty sure he was no where around. I'm also fairly certain I signed the birth certificate and his name wasn't on it." Guy's pointed look at Charlie punctuated the sentence.

"**_We're absolutely certain this is the name we're going with before we sign this right?" Connie asked smiling from ear to ear. "She does look like a, Madison, right?"_**

"**_She's a day old Cons, she looks like kind of like an alien." Guy replied, only to be shot a dirty look for the new mother. "The most beautiful alien ever, that is every bit as gorgeous as her gorgeous, Mommy." He tried to save himself._**

"**_This is serious, Guy. Giving your child a bad name can scar them for life. It will follow them around forever. My mom had a friend who named their son, Justin their last name was Thyme. I pitied that poor boy."_**

"**_Honey, Madison Germaine is a perfectly acceptable name. Can we please sign the birth certificate, so she won't be known as baby girl Germaine for the rest of her life?"_**

_**Connie nodded and picked her pen back up. "Yes,. Lets."**_

Her husband's eyes narrowed, his nose crinkled and his lips curled as though he'd just caught a foul odor. "Funny, I don't remember ever seeing that signature of yours on any of the rent checks, that have been keeping a roof over her head!"

"Enough!" Connie stomped down hard with her size six leather boot, the loud thump finally stunning the bickering men into quiet. "Charlie you need to understand that no matter how much you love and support Madison, and I know you love her very much, that she is Guy's daughter."

"That's right Spazway, you better remember that. Maddie's my blood." Her ex grinned triumphantly until Connie whirled on him.

"And you! Like it or not, Charlie has been raising that little girl for most of her life and she regards him as her second Daddy. Whether or not you're happy with it, she loves him just as much as she does you, regardless of blood."

"But she's my little girl and she needs me in her life, Cons. How am I suppose to be there for her, when you've taken her away from me. When she's in another country, all because of him." Guy explained, his voice more hurt now than angry, the words and the sadness of them alone, making Charlie wince.

"She needs you both." Connie let out a deep sigh. Her arms fell limply to her sides, you could practically see the strength leaving her body. Her voice was barely above a whisper, she added. " I need you both."


End file.
